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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26830876">Second Impressions</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/alwaysthesideofwonder/pseuds/alwaysthesideofwonder'>alwaysthesideofwonder</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:33:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>835</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26830876</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/alwaysthesideofwonder/pseuds/alwaysthesideofwonder</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The first thing that anyone who saw Harry Potter before he started at Hogwarts thought was that there was no question that he was the spitting image of his father at that age. Except for the eyes of course, those were his mother's eyes. And that was all there was to it.<br/>Unfortunately for Peter Pettigrew, being trapped in a compartment with the Boy Who Lived on his first trip to Hogwarts means that he sees all the ways they're wrong.</p><p>In which the ghosts of what should have been make themselves known, one way or another...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Second Impressions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Because it's a little hard for me to believe that every single person who saw how Harry looked after growing up with the Dursleys didn't have at least a bit of concern even if it wasn't acted on.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing that any wizard who saw Harry Potter before his Hogwarts days thought was, ‘Why, doesn't he look just like James?’</p><p>The second thing that anyone who saw him thought was, ‘Except for the eyes. They're Lily's, of course.’</p><p>Then, other than a quick roving of the eyes over the tell-tale scar, the passing glance was over and the passerby went on his merry way, the brief moment of excitement over as soon as it had begun.</p><p>Peter Pettigrew, unfortunately, does not have the luxury of moving on as many others did when Ron Weasley and Harry Potter decide to share a compartment that fateful day on the Hogwarts Express.</p><p>And so of course, there is the third thought that comes unbidden, pushing through all of his dear efforts to ignore it.</p><p>‘Was James…ever that skinny?’</p><p>He, of course, tries to rationalize it. That it must be a trick of the light, the contrast of baggy clothes against a small frame or even the contrast of sitting near a much taller boy.</p><p>None of which actually works. Because if anything, Ron is lanky, not this sort of skinny, with hints of knobby knees and elbows visible and the presence of the baggy clothes starts leading his mind to other unpleasant thoughts (Didn’t Lily say that her sister had done rather well for herself when she got married? That part of why they didn’t talk anymore was that she didn’t think Lily fit into the nice life she managed to snag herself?).</p><p>Instead, it brings back memories of his first ride on this train, to the brief glances he had of James Potter initially at the station and later on, through a compartment window. Memories of a boy who, while he wouldn’t describe him as tall, certainly hadn’t been so small-framed, one who had darted about amongst his parents with lean, browned limbs from a summer spent never touching the ground. Yes, lean was a better way to describe James, not just on that first trip, but on every other trip on the Hogwarts Express and all the time in-between, as expected of the star chaser of Gryffindor’s Quidditch team.</p><p>(Certainly never a word used to describe him. Rounded was perhaps the kindest descriptor anyone had come up for him…and yet again it was best not to drift to the thoughts of who had named him that…)</p><p>He struggles to remember Lily from that first trip, certain that her red hair would have been a beacon to catch his attention on that nerve-wracking journey, but he finds that there is always difficulty unearthing memories that he has spent so much effort burying. But even the snatches that do flash through his mind are of a girl of average height, with a build that is a nice in-between of fragile and stocky. No, skinny would also be a rather inaccurate way to describe her.  </p><p>There is no way of putting this together that allows him to fully stomach that this is what James and Lily’s son looks like (there’s a random whisper of genetics and other things that never quite made sense when Remus and Lily would speak of illogical Muggle discoveries but it’s barely existent and once again, requires thinking about people who he really would rather not). </p><p>It is not that he does not resemble them. Aside from what is seen on first glance, there is still Lily’s smile, James’ ears and face cut. But his mind forms a vague concept of what this boy should look like that does not quite fit with what’s before him…but then that gets accompanied by visions of his parents bidding him goodbye at the Platform 9 ¾ with three of their best friends at their side, which of course never happened because of events that Peter generally likes to make himself forget since life is a little more bearable as a rat than as a man who betrayed two people (or was it three? Four?), who trusted him with not just their lives but the most precious thing they had ever created. As much as guilt has been his closest friend these past several years, it is not one that he would like to acknowledge now or anytime soon.</p><p>Thankfully there’s a series of distractions: the Trolley witch, a lost toad and of course Ron’s confusion at not being able to turn him yellow with what is definitely not a spell (perhaps the poor boy should have flipped through his brothers’ textbooks before this trip?). All the better to break him out of a reverie that he is loathe to return to.</p><p>The Boy Who Lived is small and skinny. He’s dressed in clothes that are at least a size too big, rolled at the wrists. And past the messy hair and green eyes, there’s something that reflects more his unfortunate circumstances than genetics can cover up to those who look, to those who know, to those who remember.</p><p>And it’s Peter Pettigrew’s fault.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thankfully Sirius and Remus don't see Harry until after 2 years of decent meals otherwise the 3rd book might have gone a bit differently...</p></blockquote></div></div>
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